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I had the pleasure of meeting with Emily of Garnish & Gather just yesterday for coffee and I couldn’t wait another moment to share this wonderful company with you!
I already knew I’d be a fan of Emily thanks to the mentions by talented friends Heidi & Ginny, and of course they were right. I love the simple and whimsical design treatments and packaging. And, even more, love the simple concept of G&G. They work with local area farms to source their ingredients, then team up with brilliant chefs to put together delicious recipes, making the most brilliant little meal kit you can imagine.
We’re a busy family and I’d say I have somewhat limited patience, so I much appreciated having everything handy, measured, fresh, local and ready to go without having to think for a minute “what’s for dinner tonight?” The meal we enjoyed last night was Grassfed Ribeye Steak with Muscadine Gastrique, Roasted Potato Wedges and Sauteed Squash. I love squash, my husband & son love steak, and I had never cooked with muscadines before {despite being from the south and having access to bucket loads of them at the farm}. The local farms that brought us our dish were Moore’s Farm, Heritage Farms and Geezers Garden.
The meal was so much fun to prepare, everyone enjoyed it, it was so simple! I will definitely be enjoying another meal again soon, and I think a kit or gift certificate would make a perfect gift to bring over to a new mom.
Have you tried Garnish & Gather yet? I’d love to know!
If you know me by now, you know I have a thing for jars { just two examples here and here }. So, I just had to share these two new preserves jar finds that I found. The Luxe Canning Jars from Jayson Home have a great vintage appeal and I love the classic gold tops. And, I’m sure you’ve seen these blue Ball jars that have been popping up all over the place, in celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the first perfect Mason jar. I know these will be a big hit for 4th of July parties this year.
If you find any hidden gems I’m missing, I’d love to see any other fabulous jars that you find, too!
Join us for this week’s #southernchat as we talk about delicious Southern sweets from Goo Goo Clusters and Red Queen Tarts to marshmallows and shortbread cookies. I look forward to hearing everyone’s favorites and sharing a few of them myself!
I love the history of the products from Chattanooga Bakery, the maker of Moon Pies and wish some of them were still around today! And, we even had a special chat just for Southern artisan chocolates. I loved stumbling across Sir Francis, who pairs such Southern ingredients as bacon & peanut brittle to make their boxes of confections.
To help further the Southern sweets discussion, we will be having special guest Jenny (@SweetSixCandy) who began Sweet Six Candy Co, Using a recipe from her mother, Jenny spun her own versions of the six ingredient recipe and reeled people into her Sweet Six brown sugar candy. You can get to know more about this sweet company from our post yesterday to get an inside look.
Jenny also recommended I check into Wondermade marshmallows – and if they taste half as amazing as their packaging looks – I’m 100% sold! With flavors like bourbon & lavender, there is no doubt these fluffy wonders were made right here in the South. She also said I should look into Jane’s Short Sweets, a company that not only makes sweets but is also sweet-as-can-be by donating all of their profits to charity!
Despite the size of your sweet tooth is, I hope you’ll join us this week for #southernchat!
#southernchat: Southern Sweets (Monday, 4/8/13, 9:00 pm edt.)
Q1: When you think of Southern sweets, which confections come to mind?
Q2: What local sweets in your town do you want to share?
Q3: What makes sweets in the South unique?
Q4: What Southern ingredients to do you love to see in sweets?
Q5: If you could pick one family recipe for sweets to pass down to your children, what would it be?
Q6: If you could pick one flavor of Sweet Six Candy to try, what would it be?
Giveaway: Our friends at Sweet Six Candy Co, have kindly offered up one 8 oz. bag of their candy, and you get to choose the flavor! Just join in the chat using the #southernchat hashtag and you’re entered to win!
There is nothing I love more than finding other Southern artisans, designers & business owners that are passionate about their business. I believe the cultural and craft of the South inspires companies and products that are truly meant to tell a story, and Sweet Six Candy Co. is no different.
I have loved meeting Jenny DeWitt on our weekly #southernchats and really have enjoyed watching her business grow. This week’s Southern Sweets #southernchat will feature Jenny as our guest, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Her beautiful candies are family recipe inspired and I just love their round tin packaging, too. I hope you enjoy sitting back and reading more about Sweet Six! 
How did you come up with the name of your business?
I was actually gifted the domain name sweetsix.com and wondered whether it might work for a candy. When I realized the original recipe had six ingredients it just made sense. Also, if someone happens to be searching online for sweet sex and misspells it, I think that gives me a fair chance of making a sale. You just never know.
What inspired you to go into the business of sweets?
Last year, I started a personal home economics journey. I taught myself canning, started a small vegetable garden, learned to make cheese, bought a sewing machine, and finally got my mother to share her secret candy recipe with me. It’s a recipe she invented back in 1956 and had never written it down. We worked on it for about a month to get the measurements just right and I started giving samples and small batches away to friends. Everyone said I should start selling it. So, I worked on a label and branding with a designer friend of mine and opened up an Etsy shop back in September. The response has been great.
What do you love most about being in the sweets business?
Honestly, I love that look on people’s faces after they take their first bite of Sweet Six. It’s as if they light up with happiness. I also love the experimentation part of the research and development process. Testing new flavors and combinations is really interesting. Sea salt was a complete failure, while the newest flavor, ginger, was so much fun to figure out.
Are there any characteristics of southern sweets that stand out above the rest?
I’d have to say dependability and creativity. You always know it’s going to be good and a little bit different than anything else you’ve tried. Southern cooks are not afraid of sweets. In fact, I don’t know a Southern cook who is afraid of anything in the kitchen. Whether they follow the spidery handwriting of their grandmother off of a hundred-year-old recipe card or fly by the seat of their pants, southern cooks are fearless. That comes out in the dishes they makes and most definitely in the desserts.
What are your most popular candies?
Right now I have eight flavors of Sweet Six and the most popular flavor has been No.2 Espresso. I know people who buy it to use in their coffee as sweetener or as an after-dinner treat. I make it with a locally roasted espresso beans. It’s pretty intense. During the winter holidays, No. 7 Pumpkin Spice is really popular. It’s great crumbled on top of Sweet Potato Pie or ice cream.
What can we expect from you next?
I’m excited to start adding new types of candies to my repertoire this summer. I’m working on lollipops right now. I’m playing with flavors like rose and saffron. I’ve started doing custom wedding favors which is a lot of fun. I think it would be amazing to come up with a unique and exclusive flavor combination for someone’s big day or event.
Since I’m so inspired by things of the past, I decided it might be fun to start a new little series on the blog … yesterday / today. The series will take a look at things that are chic today, as compared to pieces from the past that inspired those trends.
Earlier this week I got an email from my friends at Layla Grayce showcasing all of the beautiful mint green items they have on their site. Seeing all the mint together in one place made me realize instantly the color connection from the vintage jadite pieces that were once stacked on kitchen shelves everywhere. The gorgeous milky green glass has long been a favorite of mine, especially against fresh white, as a display piece just perfect for styling.
Though I am pretty sold on a neutral palette, this summer trend is so vintage and yet so current for today that I can’t help but fall for it. I love that it goes effortlessly from a casual day at the beach to the most glamorous red carpet event without missing a beat.
Have you collected any jadite? Find a favorite mint green piece? Would love to hear about it! And, would love your suggestions for future posts in the yesterday/today series!
Mint Perfection: Earrings : Layla Grayce / Nail Polish : Essie / Pleated Skirt : Net-a-Porter
If you love Southern food, there’s a good chance you take the taste of a biscuit very seriously. A staple in the Southern kitchen from breakfast to dinner, biscuits also allow each person to personalize theirs with honey, gravy, and different preserves. Most biscuits are made with the same ingredients: flour, buttermilk or milk, and some kind of fat or butter, but within the preparation is where many secret steps and family traditions take root.
Being a most adamant fan of breakfast & brunch, for me it doesn’t get much more Southern than the biscuit. I love the notion of a flour-covered countertop, a strong tin biscuit cutter, and a warm biscuit just out of the oven in time for the meal to be enjoyed fresh.
This week we’ll be talking ingredients, secrets, favorites, and traditions for our biscuit #southernchat. I hope you can join us in the chat and that we might encourage you to share a special recipe of your own, or make your own biscuits for you and your family. Join in this week for our biscuit #southernchat at 9:00PM est this Monday 3/18/13.
#southernchat: biscuits (Monday 3/28/13 9:00PM est)
Q1: If you had to describe a Southern biscuit in three words, what would they be?
Q2: What’s the secret to making biscuits from scratch?
Q3: What is your favorite local restaurant to find the best biscuits in town?
Q4: What are your favorite spreads/toppings for biscuits?
Q5: What’s your favorite meal or recipe that includes biscuits? Feel free to share links!
Giveaways: This week we have TWO extra-special giveaways this week! Just join in the chat by using the #southernchat hashtag sometime from 9:00-10:00pm est on 3/18/13 and you’ll be automatically entered to win. Two lucky winners will be chosen at random.
The first is thanks to Southern blogger, Kate Spears of Southern Belle Simple and the International Biscuit Festival to be held 5/15-18 in Knoxville, TN. They are kindly giving away a pair of tickets to Biscuit Boulevard for one of our lucky #southernchat friends to enjoy! Now that is one celebration I’d love to take part in {judges needed?}.
The second is thanks to our friends at Pillsbury, who are giving away a fun gift basket to one lucky #southernchat friend this week! I personally love their flaky layers biscuit, which is my favorite quality of a true Southern biscuit, and they’re so perfect when you’re in a pinch for a quick, home-cooked meal!
Image via MyRecipes.com
Spring has nearly sprung and these are some of my must-haves for setting the perfect Spring table this year. I’d love to know what you need for Spring … what would you add to the table?
wooden egg from west elm / heirloomed linen napkins from icemilk aprons / egg crate from anthropologie / organic sea salt from st. helena olive oil co. / bubble drinking glass from canvas / my favorite riondo prosecco / egg cup from match pewter / egg platter from martha stewart for macy’s / big picture farm goal milk chai caramels from eat boutique / honey dipper from brook farm general store / wax resist easter egg party invitation from minted / wheatgrass seeds from terrain / french urn pedestal dining table from restoration hardware.
It’s that time of year again, when we celebrate one of my most favorite things … pie! This Thursday, March 14th, is National Pie Day, so what better our topic for this week’s #southernchat than pie. A quintessentially Southern treat, pie has graced the dessert table at many a gathering filled with some of our favorite local ingredients, from pecan to peach to apple and more.
For me, pie is a time-honored art that truly is passed down thru the generations. I shared my own Nana’s (Great Grandmother’s) Pie Crust recipe many years back on the blog, and to me it’s the best because it’s what we grew up enjoying. I’ve heard many secrets to the perfect pie crust … cold butter, cold water, lard, shortening … who knows what really makes “the best” but I’m all for trying them all! And, I love seeing some vintage pie accessories like wheel crimpers & cutters, pie saves, and good old tin pie plates. My go-to is this Emile Henry pie dish from Williams-Sonoma that I got as a wedding gift and it makes any pie look even lovelier. There are so many variations on pies, too. The whoopie pie, Chattanooga’s own MoonPie, and my friend Abby Dodge even wrote this beautiful book on Mini Pies, too! And, one of my favorite things is a skillet pie, baked right into a cast iron skillet.
This week we’re celebrating all things pie – from ingredients, to secrets, to favorites – so I hope you can join in the fun, and that we might just inspire you to share a pie recipe of your very own, or even make one from scratch this week! Join us for a special #southernchat at 9PM est this Monday, 3/11/13 to chat all about pie!
#southernchat: pies (Monday, 3/11/13, 9:00 pm est)
Q1: What are your all-time favorite kinds of pie?
Q2: Share some links to some of your favorite pie recipes from sites & blogs {yours included!}
Q3: Across the South, who serves the best pie around? Restaurants, chefs & more!
Q4: What is the secret to baking the best made-from-scratch pie? Tips & tricks welcomed.
Q5: In the South, good food is tied to great memories. What are some of your favorite memories that include pie?
{ If you’re interested in sponsoring the southern pie chat, or to learn more about #southernchat, see upcoming topics, to be a guest or host another giveaway, click here to learn more!}
Southern Pies: Garden & Gun bourbon pecan pie / Scratch bakery in Durham, NC / 3.14 Pies in Charleston, SC / My Nana’s Pie Crust Recipe / Moon Pies from Chattanooga, TN / Pie Shop in Atlanta, GA / Emile Henry Artisan Pie Dish from Williams-Sonoma / Mini Pies Cookbook by Abby Dodge
I am by no means a cheese expert but I am certainly a connoisseur! Cheese is one of my very favorite things and fresh, local cheese simply cannot be beat. This week our #southernchat focuses on something we all can love – Southern Artisan Cheeses! A growing number of farms and creameries have been popping up across the South, and we are so fortunate to have such talented folks to share their craft {and cheese!} with us.
I have long been a fan of Belle Chevre cheeses and am so thrilled that Tasia Malakasis has agreed to be our guest for this week’s chat. I fell in love with her passionate story of truly learning the craft and carrying it on in her home-state of Alabama. Growing up in Tallahassee, I was also familiar with Sweet Grass Dairy, and was so pleased to see they just opened a new flagship store in Thomasville, GA when I visited last month. And, I have loved chatting with @Timthecheeseman for some time on Twitter, and can’t help but visit Star Provisions here in Atlanta – a simply beautiful store & market where Tim is the well-known cheesemonger.
Beyond these wonderful cheeses, I was thrilled to learn of so many other creameries, dairies, farms & experts out there in the South. I know you will have a few more to share this week in #southernchat, and with so much to learn about this favorite food, the craft & more!
#southernchat: southern artisan cheeses (Monday, 3/4/13, 9:00 pm est)
Q1: What are some of your favorite types of cheese?
Q2: Southerners love a good spread, what other types of foods do you like to include when serving a cheese plate?
Q3: What other local Southern cheesemakers, creameries, & farms do you know of to share with us?
Q4: The best ingredient is cheese! What are your favorite Southern cheese-inspired dishes & recipes?
Q5: What questions do you have for Tasia about her cheese and the craft of cheesemaking?
{ If you’re interested in sponsoring the southern film chat, or to learn more about #southernchat, to be a guest or host another giveaway, click here to learn more!}
Giveaway provided by Belle Chevre!
I’m so excited to share this week’s #southernchat giveaway, special thanks to Tasia & our friends at Belle Chevre! From the heart of Alabama, this company is as Southern as they come!
They have kindly provided one of their fabulous DIY Cheese Kits for one lucky chat participant tonight. Their DIY Cheese Kit helps to continue the craft and teach you at home, with the tools & ingredients to make your very own tasty cheese. I love the cute packaging and I am dying to give this one a try for myself! Tonight we are giving away the Original Kit, but you can also check out the Honey and Kids versions, too! What fun gifts these would make. To enter to win, you simply have to join us on Twitter for tonight’s Chat and use the hashtag #southernchat. One lucky participant will be chosen at random to win and the winner be announced at the conclusion of the chat! Good luck!
Southern Artisan Cheeses:
Looking Glass Creamery, Blackberry Farms, Belle Chevre, Spinning Spider Creamery, Sweet Grass Dairy, Locust Grove Farm, Bonnie Blue Farm.
If you know me well {or .. not so well} you know that jars are simply one of my favorite things! When I was little, I loved playing in my grandmother’s pantry because she kept nothing in it’s original packaging but instead transferred everything to be stored into various sized glass jars, which were labeled and reminded me of a candy store – it was beautiful. And today, I do the same with many of my baking ingredients. And, of course I package my own IceMilk Aprons in their very own jars as well as a nod to this special fondness I have.
Funny story. So, I get preserves jars by the truckload from a small town grocery store or from our local hardware store to hand pack each of my aprons. My husband is kind enough to go there and load them up in his pickup truck and bring them home for me. The folks at the store are certain we are moonshiners. It makes me laugh every time, though I have kind of gotten into the Moonshiners show {anyone else?} …
Canning and preserving is on the list as one of the top 10 trends of 2013 and is oh-so-chic! With farming and farmers markets being so popular these days, I’m not surprised! Williams-Sonoma has a special section on their agrarian site just for Canning & Preserving. Mason jars are being used on everything from weddings to packaging to entertaining. Blackberry Farm has a preservationist on staff. So, whether you love Ball, Mason, Kerr, Weck or other jars, take your pick and jump right into this fun, southern-inspired craft. Some of my favorite things come in jars and I included them above for you to enjoy, but I’d love to know what else you have that I haven’t yet discovered! I hope you’ll join in our #southernchat this week to talk about all things jars, preserving, canning & more!
#southernchat: jars & canning (Monday, 2/18/13, 9:00 pm est)
Q1: When you think of jars, what is the first thing that comes to mind?
Q2: What kind of jars are your favorite? Brands, shapes, sizes & more!
Q3: Have you ever tried canning & preserving? If not, would you give it a try? If so, any tips to share?
Q4: I shared some of my favorite things in jars, so what are your favorite things in jars?
Q5: What are some of the most creative things you’ve seen done with jars?
{ If you’re interested in sponsoring the southern jars & canning chat, or to learn more about #southernchat, to be a guest or host another giveaway, click here to learn more!}
Jars + Canning:
Phickles Pickles, Emily G’s Jams, Bella Cucina pesto, IceMilk Aprons, Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine, St. Helena Olive Oil Co. Sea Salt, Blackberry Farms Grain and Nut Granola for Williams-Sonoma, Canning for a New Generation book.
icemilkaprons.wordpress.com 